CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 41,041 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253,163 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 41,041 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $7,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 91.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on HRL. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $30.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.49.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Foodservice, and International segments. The company provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others.

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